Blue Jays 10, A's 4

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchangeJuly 26, 2012

TORONTO -- Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson homered to boost the Toronto Blue Jays to a 10-4 win over Oakland on Thursday, snapping the A's seven-game winning streak. Toronto overcame an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game on Encarnacion's fourth-inning homer. The Blue Jays gained the lead with two runs in the sixth and put it away with four in the eighth before 39,003 at Rogers Centre. Lefty Aaron Laffey allowed five hits -- including homers to Josh Reddick and Brandon Inge -- three walks and four runs in 5 2/3 innings. Reliever Brandon Lyon (1-0) picked up the win by working 1 1/3 innings. He struck out three of the four batters he faced. Oakland left-hander Tommy Milone (9-7) gave up six runs -- five earned -- and eight hits over seven innings. His throwing error allowed two runs to score in the sixth. The A's (53-45) are 16-3 in July as the Blue Jays (49-49) avoided being swept in the three-game series. Reddick put the Athletics ahead with a two-out, first-inning homer, his 22nd of the season. Oakland increased the lead to 3-0 in the fourth, when Inge followed Yoenis Cespedes' infield hit to shortstop with his 11th homer of the season. Encarnacion hit his career-high 27th homer of the season after Rajai Davis and Brett Lawrie singled in the bottom of the fourth. Those were the first Blue Jay hits of the game. Oakland took a 4-3 lead in the fifth. Jemile Weeks walked with one out, Coco Crisp doubled and Jonny Gomes walked to load the bases. Reddick's grounder to second resulted in only a force at second and Weeks scored. Lyon, acquired in a July 20 trade with Houston, replaced Laffey with two out in the sixth after Kurt Suzuki singled, and struck out Brandon Hicks to end the inning. The Blue Jays went ahead 5-4 in the home sixth that began with singles by Colby Rasmus and Lawrie. A wild pitch put runners at second and third. After Encarnacion struck out, Travis Snider bunted near the third-base line. Milone fielded it, and threw to first as one runner scored. His errant throw allowed the second run to score. Snider was out after slipping while rounding first base. Johnson led off the bottom of the seventh with his 11th homer of the season to extend the Blue Jays lead to 6-4. Toronto scored four more times in the eighth on a double by Snider, a sacrifice fly by Yan Gomes and a Johnson double off Sean Doolittle, then a double by Jeff Mathis off Evan Scribner. Notes. With J.P, Arencibia on the disabled list with a fractured right hand after taking a foul tip in Wednesday's 16-0 Oakland win, the Blue Jays will give most of the catching to Mathis with Gomes as backup. Gomes started at first base on Thursday. ... Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar was out of the lineup for the second straight game with lower back tightness. ... The A's move in to Baltimore where Jarrod Parker (7-4, 3.00 ERA) will start against the Orioles' Zach Britton (1-0, 3.80 ERA) on Friday. ... Toronto is home to Detroit with Carlos Villanueva (5-0, 2.86 ERA) facing the Tigers' Rick Porcello (7-5, 4.40 ERA).